Holder backs attorneys general who shun state bans

Tuesday

Feb 25, 2014 at 12:01 AMFeb 25, 2014 at 12:00 PM

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder said yesterday that state attorneys general who believe that laws in their states banning same-sex marriage are discriminatory are not obligated to defend them.

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder said yesterday that state attorneys general who believe that laws in their states banning same-sex marriage are discriminatory are not obligated to defend them.

Holder was careful not to encourage his state counterparts to disavow their states’ laws, but his position injects the Obama administration into the debate over gay marriage playing out in court cases in many states.

Six state attorneys general — all Democrats — have refused to defend bans on same-sex marriage, prompting criticism from Republicans who say they have a duty to defend all their states’ laws.

Holder said that when laws touch on core constitutional issues such as equal protection, an attorney general should apply the highest level of scrutiny before deciding whether to defend it. He said the decision should never be political or based on policy objections.

Holder is to address the National Association of Attorneys General at a conference today.

“It really isn’t his job to give us advice on defending our constitutions, any more than it’s our role to give him advice on how to do his job,” said Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, a Republican who is president of that bipartisan group. “We are the ultimate defenders of our state constitutions.”

Holder’s refusal to defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act in 2011 helped lead to last year’s Supreme Court decision striking down the law.